Heating Repairs, Tune-Ups, And Filter Changes

Your heating and air conditioning system has a limited lifetime. Manufacturers warrant your equipment for specified amounts of time. Unfortunately, your heating system won’t last a lifetime, and not keeping it regularly maintained will shorten its life. But the good news is that if you do maintain the unit as recommended, you can extend its life beyond what is expected.

Just like your automobile or any other mechanical object, there are many parts involved that need to be monitored, repaired, tuned-up, cleaned, and inspected. When regular Summerville tune-ups and maintenance doesn’t get done, the parts will collect dust, dirt, debris, and grime which can cause parts to break down or work improperly. And this is the perfect formula for a pending breakdown.

One of the most vital steps you can take to keep your heating system operating at peak performance is to keep the air filters changed often. It may seem like a little thing that doesn’t make much difference, but the fact of the matter is that all the dust and pollutants in your home are causing damage to your heating system. Once a filter gets full of pollutants, airflow will be greatly diminished and your heater will be stressed.

Several things determine how often your air filters need changing. If you wait too long, the efficiency of your unit will decline and your energy costs will rise. Replacing the filter too often, on the other hand, will just waste your money, especially if the filters are expensive. For those who are on top of changing out filters, you may be interested in electrostatic filters that can be cleaned and reused.

Keep in mind that the more efficient the air filter is, the more often you’ll need to clean or replace it. Pleated filters will do an adequate job and are one of the less expensive types. For most homes, they are ten to sixty percent efficient at filtering the air with some manufacturers claiming even higher efficiencies.

Pleated air filters should be changed every three months or so, depending on how dirty the air is. HEPA filters are more efficient but become plugged up very quickly. They need to be examined monthly and unfortunately can limit the airflow when they’re dirty.

You can get economy panel filters at your local hardware or home improvement store. These are generally the worst type of filter you can get. They are nearly see through and do little to filter the dust and pollution in your home. These filters are so bad you could just about leave them in for a year and barely collect enough debris to warrant changing them.

Electronic filters won’t ever become dirty enough to block the airflow of your heater, which is a good thing. When not cleaned, they just become less able to filter the air, so there is little stress put on the unit caused by poor air flow. To clean the filters, you remove the electronic cells and soak them in a compound manufactured to clean them (like HVAC cleaner). Rinse them and let them dry.

Hiring a service company is vital for proper maintenance of your Summerville heating system. Your chosen HVAC professional will inspect, make repairs, change filters, regulate freon, perform tests, clean, and tune-up your unit. This should be done at a minimum once per year, but we recommend that you have either a monthly or every three months plan set up.

There’s a lot of reasons to keep your heater in good repair, and staying warm during wintertime or saving on expensive repairs you could have avoided are just two good reasons. You’ll also want to breathe healthier air so you and your family are comfortable in your home.

If you are interested in learning more about Avoiding Heating Repairs, call 843-819-5392 or complete our online request form.